Safety Issues in Lithium Ion Batteries: Materials and Cell Design

Abstract

As the most widely used energy storage device in consumer electronic and electric vehicle fields, lithium ion battery (LIB) is closely related to our daily lives, on which its safety is of paramount importance. LIB is a typical multidisciplinary product. A tiny single cell is composed of both organic and inorganic materials in multi scale. In addition, its relatively closure property made it difficult to be studied on line, let alone in the battery pack or system level. Safety, often manifested by stability on abuse, including mechanical, electrical, and thermal abuses, is a quite complicated issue of LIB. Safety has to be guaranteed in large scale application. Here, safety issues related to key materials and cell design techniques will be reviewed. Key materials, including cathode, anode, electrolyte, and separator, are the fundamental of the battery. Cell design and fabrication techniques also have significant influence on the cell's electrochemical and safety performances. Here, we will summarize the thermal runaway process in single cell level, and some recent advances on battery materials and cell design.

Three-Dimensional Fibrous Iron as Anode Current Collector for Rechargeable Zinc–Air Batteries

“…Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely recognized as the most viable solution due to their excellent performance and flexible applications. Nevertheless, LIBs exhibit numerous deficiencies, such as high cost and safety issues [4][5][6]. Specifically, there are concerns regarding raw material supply [7,8].…”

Binder-Free Centimeter-Long V2O5 Nanofibers on Carbon Cloth as Cathode Material for Zinc-Ion Batteries

“…Among the available EES, the lithium-ion battery (LIB) serves as the forerunner due to its versatility and wide range of applications. Yet, LIBs show several shortcomings such as safety issues, transportation restrictions, aging, recycling, and most especially, the cost and limited abundance of the material [4][5][6].…”

Perspective on Commercial Li-ion Battery Testing, Best Practices for Simple and Effective Protocols

“…A plan should also be in place in case batteries undergo thermal runaway during testing. A discussion on thermal runaway is out of the scope of this publication and interested readers should refer to [16][17][18][19]. To maximize safety, all cells should be tested in temperature chambers with significant exhaust ventilation to evacuate fumes quickly in case of failure.…”

“…To maximize safety, all cells should be tested in temperature chambers with significant exhaust ventilation to evacuate fumes quickly in case of failure. Moreover, temperature should always be monitored as it is an excellent indicator of failure [16][17][18][19]. If cell temperature exceeds 80 • C, all testing should be stopped, and the temperature monitored closely for the next hour.…”